Hey all. I believe I'm overthinking this to a degree, but I've been having trouble finding the "magic number" for my calorie intake on lighter training days.

For the last 2-3 months I was in base training putting in 15-20hrs every week. Now I'm in the build period, starting some longer intervals and looking at 12-16hrs of training.

This last week I had a pretty light week, one hard interval session and some shorter rides. I have been absolutely starving. I have an incredibly clean diet, I track everything I eat and while I don't necessarily need to lose weight I sure as hell don't want to gain either (which I've never dealt with being overweight, so it's fairly irrational).

People think it's absurd that as a female I'm eating 2500kcal on off days (I've been trying to keep it around 2100-2200, but like I said, I'm so freaking hungry). Does this sound like a reasonable amount for my amount of training? I'm 5'4", 127lbs, 16% body fat.

I just want to be comfortable with my consumption and fuel my body properly. If I'm feeling tired and lacking energy quite frequently, I'm sure it's a result of my fuel intake given I've had adequate rest off the bike.